[SushilBajpai]

Congratulations!

Keep the thread alive by posting your experiences as you mature your relationship with the new hybrid.

Hybrids often need a different handling than regular cars. They generally tend to much more feedback coming from their sophisticated instrumentation, which you can use to optimise your driving to suit any given situation.

I'd follow this thread with much interest.

[KumaravelS]

Originally Posted by sushrutha

Congratulations KumaravelS.
The car looks spankingly new.
Please add some more pics of the side profile .
Frankly speaking, I don't like the alloys of Hybrid Civic.

Thanks Sushrutha
Like you one of my friend who had recently upgraded to Civic also disliked Hybrid and he said, he might have gone for upgrade to hybrid but for the allows.
Have added picture of the alloys at the end. Would take snaps of side profile in the weekend and upload.

Originally Posted by speedmiester

Congrats on your new car. The first hybrid car ownership on Team-BHP. Looking forward to a comprehensive review from your end on owning an Hybrid.

Thanks Speedmiester.
I will try to share whatever experience/knowledge I could gain as a user/driver. Don’t expect too much technical details from me.

Originally Posted by fuel_addict

Wow, that's a clean looking first Civic Hybrid ownership thread on TBHP. 12 years battery warranty is awesome. I understand the battery alone costs around 8 lakhs. Hope you have a wonderful experience.

11.5 kpl is a tad disappointing. What is the mileage claimed by Honda?

Thanks Fuel_addict
Honda claims 38~40 mpg (16~17kmpl). However in hybrid forum, civic users complained that after a software upgrade, they get around 32 mpg (13 kmpl)

Originally Posted by Guna

Congratulations for buying a hybrid car.
Car doesn't seem to have lost too much for the battery.
Regular Civic AT does come with paddle shifters.
11+ in a bumper to bumper traffic is a good figure (probably the regular Civic AT gives 7+ in the same conditions)

is the switch between battery and engine seem less or is there a feel of momentary power loss?

Thanks Guna.
I don’t realize that there is any shift from battery to engine or vice versa. Only when I stop at signals or at traffic, I notice in the display that engine has stopped. But as soon as I lift my leg from brakes, the vehicle starts moving. No delay or jerk observed.

Originally Posted by vasoo

Congrats. Great looking for a 30k run car. My 10k car looks more shabby



11+ is just about average considering that it is a 1339 cc engine. My Civic AT gives about 8-9 kmpl in really bad traffic. Civic 2012 Hybrid comes with a 1.5L engine and apparently offers 44 mpg (18+ kmpl). Not sure how much will it be in our conditions.

Thanks Vasu. As I mentioned I went through forums before taking possession of the car and lowered my mileage expectations.

Originally Posted by rr_zen

Congrats Kumaravel. Glad to see the first Civic Hybrid in the forum and happier to note that you are from Chennai as well. The car looks well maintained for its time. Two things that caught my attention:

1. I never knew the Civic Hybrid had steering mounted audio controls which is one of the major gripes of the regular Civic owners.

2. Correct me if am wrong, I thought the regular Civic is also governed by the drive by wire technology, is it not ?

Happy ownership and looking forward to meeting up with you sometime.

1. It beats me and other regular civic owners. Why Honda had provided audio control at the back seat.
2. My bad. I used carwale to compare the features of regular civic viz hybrid. There they haven’t mentioned about drive by wire (DBW) for regular civic. Apparently DBW is available for regular regular civic.

Originally Posted by smartcat

Nice drive! Questions & comments -

- How is the availability of spare parts for Hybrid Civic? I wonder if consumables like brake discs/pads are different from normal Civic (because of difference in weight between the two cars).

- Do post a picture of your tyres/alloys. From what I read long time back, the tyre tread design for the Hybrid is unique in the sense that it has been designed for fuel efficiency (at the expense of outright grip).

- Any idea about replacement cost of the batteries after the expiry of the warranty?

- Other than steering mounted audio controls, does Hybrid Civic have any other features that are not available in the normal Civic?

- Has Honda installed EPS in Hybrid Civic instead of Hydraulic power steering in the interest of fuel economy? Does the steering feel super-light or does it feel heavy-ish?

The service personal whom I interacted mentioned that most of the parts of the civic hybrid can be swapped with regular civic. But I didn’t go into details then. When I visit for service I would clarify this point.
I have posted pics of alloys. I would take snaps of tyre threads in the weekend and post it later.
In US the batteries are costing 2000$. I think with import duty, it would cost around 4000$ in India as of now.
Alloys, steering mounted audio, slightly raised back seats (due to batteries beneath) are different from regular civic.
Its EPS. Its feels light. During my test drives in regular civics, I don’t felt any difference.

Originally Posted by dot

Congratulations on your hybrid Civic. It looks pristine. There seems to be quite a few interesting surprises when the hybrid is compared to the regular Civic with AT.



I could not trace the paddle shifters on the picture. They are usually next the the mid bar of the steering wheel, at 3 and 9 o'clock position. Yet the AT lever has a "S" and "L" slots. I wonder what they are for? Do you have the manual of the car? Curious to know what are the functions of those two positions.

The FE seems to be too low. One way to find out would be to take the car for a highway drive and maintain speeds of 80-100kmph. The petrol 1.8L Civic will return 15-16 under these conditions. It would be interesting to know how much the hybrid returns at these conditions.

Guna observes that for CVT vehicles paddle shifters would not be provided.
The S is sports mode. That sans the regenerative functionality for charging the batteries.
L mode is for hill climbing.

Originally Posted by Guna

If I remember correctly, even ACI road test suggested similar figures.
On the highway with steady speed, the FE of a hybrid wont be any better then the regular car (it can be probably worse because of the extra weight) because the hybrid principle wont be at action (regenerating and charging battery while braking, deceleration etc)

ACI suggest 38~40 mpg (16~17 kmpl) both in city and on highways.

Originally Posted by cityvic

Welcome to the Civic Club.
Have driven the Civic hybrid,quite good it is.
Some more pictures please.

Enjoy.
Take Care And Drive Safe

Thanks Cityvic. Would take few more and post it over next week.

Originally Posted by charthom

@KumaravelS,

Congratulations on the first Civic Hybrid thread. Your account was very informative. I had never read another ownership report on the Civic hybrid.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Charthom

Originally Posted by SushilBajpai

Congratulations!

Keep the thread alive by posting your experiences as you mature your relationship with the new hybrid.

Hybrids often need a different handling than regular cars. They generally tend to much more feedback coming from their sophisticated instrumentation, which you can use to optimise your driving to suit any given situation.

I'd follow this thread with much interest.

Thanks Sushil.
The additional feedback are the hybrid battery charging indication when I apply brake or slow down and battery assist. I would write a separate reply about the battery assist feedback later. Am yet to feel the kick of it.

[naveenk25]

Congrats on this ECO buy,

The Hybrid civic has always been a very special car 'so to say" because of its radical difference from the other normal cars (read "Gas Guzzlers"). You seem to have found a well maintained car at that. keep updating about the ownership experience.

Happy ECO Motoring!

[patron]

Congrats on what looks like a fantastic drive.

Originally Posted by KumaravelS

The service personal whom I interacted mentioned that most of the parts of the civic hybrid can be swapped with regular civic.

Just curious, in that case the control mounted steering should be available as a spare with Honda for use on a regular Civic I suppose instead of a DIY?

[anandpadhye]

This is nice.
I have been waiting for a Civic Hybrid review/ownership thread since a long time.

It would be great if you take the car to the highway, drive steadily betweeen 80 to 120kmph and report the FE. If 11.5kmpl is in absolute bumper to bumper traffic, then it's good. How much did you use to get in the same situation in your zen?

And 12 years of worry-free coverage for battery is awesome.
Kudos to Honda.

And how is the pick-up compared to the regular civic? Regular civic in itself is quite lethargic off the mark - the power comes towards the peak of the powerband which is of no use in day to day driving. In Hybrid, whenever you accelerate hard, the battery assists the engine so you should get a push. The peak torque of the electric motor is avaliable from the word go so motor + engine combo should be powerful enough I feel. Please share your detailed experience on this. Waiting eagerly.

Congrats!

[Akshay1234]

Congrats, that is a very unique upgrade. I'd really like to see after a few days of you getting used to the auto what FE it gives in the city.

Also I read you felt worried while overtaking, in that case just push the pedal in completely incase you already aren't and then update how the kickdown feels. Also use L for going down steep roads, so that there is come engine braking and you dont rely only on the brakes.

[arvi86]

Congrats KumaravelS. I will be glued to this thread as this is the first ever Civic Hybrid ownership thread in India. Your car looks spanking new and immaculately maintained. Do take good care of the car and post your experiences as it will be an eye-opener for many of us who love to know about living with this technology in day-to-day life. I guess the mileage in highways will be brilliant if you have got a 11.5 kmpl in bumper to bumper city traffic.

Except the alloys, the car looks super cool. As a matter of fact, I dislike the aerodynamic alloy designs that come in many hybrid cars like the new Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and Kia Optima Hybrid too.

[mdsaab]

WOW! was always amazed by the hybrid.
i remember Honda slashed the prices to 16 + change at one time.
The futuristic digital instrument cluster looks even more futuristic with those bars displaying the battery charge, assist etc.
Wishing you many miles of joyful green motoring with your white hybrid beauty.
P.S love the wheels and the minimalistic spoiler. Looks Fantastic!

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by KumaravelS

I will try to share whatever experience/knowledge I could gain as a user/driver.

Hello @Kumar,
Do you still have this car?
We are waiting for updates - on real-life FE, etc.

[ajay2233]

How is the car faring now? Its more than a year!

[speed kills]

OT:

Bit of a noob question, but I've always wondered why Hybrid vehicles have such boring rims

Has it got something to do with increasing fuel efficiency by reducing drag?

Case in point

[Maky]

Originally Posted by vinayrathore

IMHO the wheels look like this because there are small generators embedded within the rims to generate power while the car is not accelerating or is braking. This is called regenerative breaking.

Is it the same as KERS?
Kinetic energy recovery system?

[Mpower]

Those so called boring rims are designed to improve aerodynamics by minimizing the air that flows into the wheels and causing turbulence.

A few years ago, this was employed in Formula 1 as well.

Pics source: F1technical.net

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by Maky

Is it the same as KERS?
Kinetic energy recovery system?

The wheel or wheel-cover is not related to KERS in any way.

You can do a search on KERS and shall find your answer.

[IshaanIan]

I know I am a couple of years late :P but anyway, congratulations! Looks like it was in great condition.
You DID state that you are not an enthusiast on several occasions, but have you ever considered an ECU remap by the Tune-O-Tronics guys? I am sure in such a car, every bit of torque and horsepower count
Do keep the thread updated, though I myself don't subscribe to the hybrid school of thought, they are interesting.